Starting Wednesday, November 14, 2018, when students log in to myFSCJ, they’ll be prompted to choose and answer a few easy security questions. Once this is set up, any future password issues will be a breeze to resolve.

When the Student tab is selected, students, faculty and staff will be prompted to select and answer three security questions from a dropdown list. Once all three questions are chosen and answered, students will click Save, then will be taken back on the Student tab.

After this process is complete, students can easily change or reset their password by clicking the myFSCJ link called Student Help. To reset the password, students will be prompted to answer the security questions they set up. If their answers are correct, they’ll be able to reset their password.

As always, if students have trouble resetting their password, or with any other technical issue, the FSCJ IT Service Desk is happy to help. Help tickets can be submitted by visiting help.fscj.edu and selecting Submit a Ticket.

Just to clarify, this new system is for student passwords ONLY. While some faculty and staff members do have both staff and student passwords, this system will only work for student IDs and passwords. Staff IDs and passwords will not be affected.

Kaltura MediaSpace

This Spring, there was an update to Kaltura MediaSpace to make login compatible between myFSCJ and Blackboard. This resolved the issue of being unable to access MediaSpace content from Blackboard.

MediaSpace can now be accessed from myFSCJ within the Faculty, Employees or Students tabs, shown below, as well as within Blackboard via a Building Block.

If you experience any issues accessing or viewing content that was created within MediaSpace prior to the Spring update, please submit a ticket at help.fscj.edu which will be routed to our MediaSpace administrator who can correct many outlying issues.

CaptureSpace Users

If you previously downloaded CaptureSpace to your computer you may need to take steps to reestablish your connection. If you experience any issues or are unable to see content while trying to record a new video, follow these directions:

1. Log onto MediaSpace and initiate a CaptureSpace recording by selecting “Add New” from the upper right corner. Make a test recording then check to ensure it uploads correctly.

If unsuccessful:

2. Uninstall CaptureSpace using these directions. Try to initiate a CaptureSpace recording in MediaSpace and it will give you the directions to reinstall CaptureSpace. Make a test to verify it works.

The video you were trying to upload is probably still on your computer. You can find your previously recorded video by looking for the Settings tab in CaptureSpace. Under settings you’ll see the storage location of the file. Here is a video of the process. Once you have the file you can upload the video to MediaSpace.

For clarification, or to ask additional questions, please submit a ticket at help.fscj.edu or email us at EdTech@fscj.edu.

When an instructor has prepared their Blackboard course shell and are ready to make the course available to their students, there are a few steps that need to take place. If no steps are taken, the course will become available to students upon the first day of the session.

To make a course shell available, select Customization from the course menu. Next click Properties.

As a reminder, course shells will not be available to instructors until 60 days prior to their start date.

Set Availability

When instructors are ready to set the availability of a course, first scroll to Set Availability and ensure that Yes is selected.

Set Course Duration

Instructors can decide whether they would like the course to be available immediately or to become available on a specific date in the future.

By default, course shells are set to become available to students enrolled on the date the course begins. To make the course available in advance, either change the date or select Continuous for the duration to make the course available immediately. Note that courses with continuous enrollment will NOT close automatically at the end of the term. If continuous enrollment is selected, faculty must remember to make these course unavailable at the end of the term.

We are happy to announce that Blackboard has released a suite of new, improved mobile apps and that they are now compatible with myFSCJ for Fall 2017 and beyond! Blackboard has split the functionality of the apps to create one that is specifically tailored towards the needs of students and one that is perfect for instructor use!

Blackboard App (for Students)

The Blackboard App is the current name for the student-centered version of Blackboard mobile. It replaces the current Blackboard student app, which has been discontinued.

It is available in the iOS App Store, in Google Play, and in the Windows Store.

Like the previous version of the Blackboard mobile app, students can still take tests, view announcements, post discussions, and review grades with Blackboard App. Now, the app is optimized for mobile, so that the content will adapt to all screen sizes and be more visible and accessible! Users can also upload assignments and attachments from Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive, making it easier than ever to work on the go using just your mobile device. The new homepage for the app also features an activity stream, displaying due dates, posted grades, and assignment uploads for all classes in one continuous, integrated flow. Collaborate is also now fully integrated into the mobile experience, so students do not need to use another app or their browser to join learning sessions on their phone or tablet.

Login to the Blackboard Student app:

Blackboard Instructor

The Blackboard Instructor app is brand new, and only shows the courses that are being taught, not those that the user is enrolled in. Instructors can use the app to view and send announcements or make courses available for viewing by students. The app is fully responsive and mimics the content layouts and file structure of a Blackboard course within the full LMS. This structure can also be edited or changed from the mobile app.

The app contains a student viewer that can help faculty to better understand the student mobile experience while taking tests, watching videos, and reading content. The app will also allow the user to export content for use in other mobile apps or in a web browser. It also incorporates Collaborate access natively, so that sessions can be run completely from the mobile app without relying on a browser or separate plug-in. For more information about the Blackboard Instructor App, visit Blackboard's help site.

Login to the Blackboard Instructor app:

1. Ensure you have the correct app downloaded onto your smart-device. The Blackboard Mobile app’s icon should appear as a blue square with a pencil. (Note: The Blackboard Learn app, which looks like a chalkboard, is not compatible with myFSCJ, so if you only have that app on your device, please download the correct Blackboard Mobile app).

2. Upon opening the app, you will be prompted to enter your college. Type in “Florida State College at Jacksonville”.

3. You will be presented with a prompt telling you to “Web Login”. Click the “Web Login” button.

4. You will be redirected to the myFSCJ login page. Please login using your myFSCJ userID and password.

5. Locate and click the Blackboard link underneath the “Useful Links” section of the student tab. For instructors, locate the Blackboard link within the faculty tab.

6. This will certify your session and take you back to the Blackboard Mobile app interface.

If you are experiencing any issues during any one of these steps or with the functionality of the app, please contact the Technical Service Desk at (904) 646-2300, option 3.

Are you using videos in your classroom or Blackboard shell and have put off captioning them because it is too hard, or too expensive, or you just don't know how to do it? No need to admit it, because we have just the tool for you!

Introducing Katura REACH Auto-captioning, the free, easy to use tool that can help you to maintain an accessible learning environment while keeping the hassle to a minimum. View the video below for more information, and remember: Accessibility is Everyone's Responsibility!

FSCJ recently made the switch to Blackboard Collaborate Ultra, a very useful synchronous communication tool that is available within every Blackboard course shell. Blackboard allows individuals to collaborate (hence the name ;) ) over the web using their computer's onboard camera or microphone to give live lessons or work on group projects.

It also allows professors to share and mark up powerpoints or word documents with students, show and demonstrate applications and screens, and record lessons for later viewing by students. It is a truly versatile and incredibly useful tool for online faculty, as well as those teaching face to face classes!

Prior to Spring Break, the Educational Technology Team hosted a series of webinars that took a deep look at the many features of Blackboard Collaborate. All three webinars are shared below.

This webinar is useful for proessors who are just getting started with using Collaborate. It covers setting up the camera and microphone, sharing applications and files, and the use of the digital whiteboard.

This webinar picks up where Beyond the Basics left off, and covers breaking students into groups, recording sessions, and ideas for using the whiteboard and file sharing applications.

This webinar reviews the features of the Collaborate mobile app, as well as best practices for its use.

We hope that these webinars are useful for faculty and staff in providing a introduction to and a reference for Collaborate. As always, please feel free to direct any further questions to et@fscj.edu.

Did you know that all students, faculty and staff have the option to download Office 365 for free on up to 5 computers? That includes Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, OneNote, and many others. Here's a quick tutorial that shows you exactly how! If you have any issues, please contact our Service Desk at help.fscj.edu.

Information Technology Services (ITS) is happy to announce the FSCJ arrival of the newly redesigned Blackboard Collaborate, a Blackboard-integrated web conferencing tool. All FSCJ faculty, staff, and students have access to Collaborate through the Blackboard learning management system.

Additional resources are available within the Blackboard Help articles, here. Stay tuned for upcoming webinars, additional features, and more in-depth training opportunities.

If you have additional questions, please open a service desk ticket or contact LMS Support Specialist, Cody Coughlin.

Microsoft Office 365 has evolved to a point where we as educators should begin to take notice. We recently sat down and experimented with the program and started figuring out how to leverage the software to enhance teaching and learning. The school pays for many of the features and many of us already depend on many of their tools in our daily routines. We all use email, Word, and maybe Skype or Excel. Now we can access these and many other tools all in one place, and more importantly, for free. You can access most of these tools through the Outlook Web App from the email link in your employee portal.